This invention relates generally to crossbows, and more particularly to prods and/or stock accessories.
Crossbows are generally known in the art. Crossbows typically include a bow assembly portion mounted on a stock portion, which typically includes a string latch and trigger assembly for holding a drawn crossbow string and selectively releasing it.
Crossbows have employed foot stirrups disposed beyond the end of the stock portion. Foot stirrups have been fixedly engaged to the bow assembly portion or stock portion. A user may place the foot stirrup on the ground and place their foot in the foot stirrup, thus holding the foot stirrup and forward end of the stock portion in place. The user can then apply a drawing force to the crossbow string, to draw the string toward the string latch assembly to cock the crossbow. The crossbow string is held by the sting latch in a drawn configuration.
Crossbows that employ foot stirrups tend to be larger (e.g., by weight, by volume, overall length, etc.) and/or more cumbersome due to the protruding foot stirrups, which may be permanently engaged with the stock assembly. For example, a crossbow that includes a protruding foot stirrup may be more difficult to store, transport, and/or operate.
There remains a need for novel crossbow designs that provide benefits over the prior art. For example, there remains a need for crossbows having a shorter length. Also, for example, there remains a need for crossbows that can be drawn safely.
All U.S. patents and applications and all other published documents (including foreign patents and applications) mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference, each incorporated herein in its entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments and/or additional embodiments may be found in the Detailed Description below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims.